The Rangers extended their win streak to eight games with a hard-fought 3-1 over the Devils on Saturday at MSG. While much of the focus should be in Derek Stepan's hat trick and Henrik Lundqvist's continued fine play, we find ourselves discussing the odd lineup decision by coach Alain Vigneault. Depth is a great thing, but if you mismanage that depth, it can become a detriment; to me, that was the case yesterday.
At practice yesterday, Lee Stempniak, who had been out with the mumps, was on the third line with Carl Hagelin and Kevin Hayes. That meant that J.T. Miller, who was playing there, was a likely scratch, despite AV saying that Stempniak and Miller were to flip-flop during practice. This move became the cause célèbre on Twitter and on my blog yesterday and rightfully so.
The argument was not so much if Stempniak should be in the lineup but if Miller should be the one that sits. I know several believe Stempniak is not quick enough to play in this system, but I believe he is fine on the third and fourth line. The bigger question was why Miller and not Tanner Glass? Is it, as was suggested on the blog, that AV pushed for Glass and by sitting him, he looks stupid for suggesting to GM Glen Sather than Glass is added.
Of course, no one forced Sather to add him in general or give him three years at $1.45 mil per. It's that latter item that really angers me because even if you did send him down, the Rangers would be stuck with $550k in salary on their cap.
After the game, AV was asked - and I purposely use that word and not grilled - by the beat writers why Miller sat for Stempniak. His responses were:
“...Just contemplating on what possible lineup they could have and their injury situation, just felt that it was the right thing for the team.”
On Miller’s play slipping or wanting Stempniak in, “combo of both, last game a couple of guys could have played better and he was one of them. Right now we have 13 healthy forwards, 14 if we count the one who is at the World Juniors right now, just felt that I didn’t want Lee sitting out too long and I thought it was the right thing for the team.”
That answer is so ridiculous and provides no real semblance of information why the change was made. I get not wanting Stempniak to get stale but you also a riding a seven-game win streak in which Miller (three) was the second leading goal-scorer behind Rick Nash (six) in that stretch. AV had said that he thought Miller wasn't great against Washington, but I am unsure what game he was watching. Maybe he is holding the too many men on the ice penalty against Miller, but that seems a bit short sided.
Others have weighed in stating that AV never really had confidence in Miller and was looking for a reason to scratch him. In addition, even before AV was hired, the prevailing view was that he doesn't like to play young players, preferring veterans, stunting their growth. It's hard to argue with any of these points but taking all of them at face value may be stretching it a bit. Maybe there is something else going on, but based on the info we have to date, it's hard to justify this move.
My view on the move was that it was a stupid decision and that Miller should be in the lineup nightly, sitting Stempniak or Tanner Glass or Jesper Fast. This is not a shot at Glass, who I thought was okay yesterday, save for not doing a great job backchecking on the Devils' goal, or on Stempniak. I feel the same about Matt Hunwick sitting for John Moore, who got caught pinching on the goal, but AV likes his D to be aggressive so hard to fault him. It's not a referendum against any of these players, more so who should be in the lineup. In addition, the longer term concern is that when Anthony Duclair is eligible to come back after the World Junior Championships end on January 5, he will be sent back to juniors rather than keeping him around so that Stempniak or Glass can remain in the lineup.
A quick bit on the game:
Of the eight games straight the Rangers have won, it's seven in a row for Lundqvist. The contest against the Devils was his 600th game and he has a 1.54 GAA, a .940 save percentage and a shutout over his win streak. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Lundqvist is one of only four goaltenders in NHL history to record at least 325 wins through his first 600 career NHL games (Jacques Plante – 332; Martin Brodeur – 330; Chris Osgood – 325). I think most guessed Marty, Plante was a maybe and few thought of Osgood.
What I found most interesting was that Lundqvist let it slip that several players got together to skate on their won despite the three-day holiday. It's a strong sign of the commitment of this team and great to see the players did this on their own. For all the concerns as to how the squad would mesh together, it's becoming clearer that they are connecting just fine.
Stepan now has 22 points in 21 games and coupled with Derick Brassard, has given the Rangers a solid 1-2 combination at center. He scored shorthanded, on the power play and in the empty net, all he needed was a penalty shot and even-strength goal and he would have had the Mario Lemieux trick. Now if the squad could only win faceoffs. I thought Mats Zuccarello was very good again, engaged throughout, while Chris Kreider was flying all over the place, using his speed and strength to create chances.
The Rangers head out to Dallas for a game Monday following New Year's Eve contest against Florida. Wins in each will allow New York to match the franchise's longest win streak of 10, accomplished on January 19-February 10, 1973 and December 19-January 13, 1940. After those two games, New York has a home game against a resurgent Buffalo on January 3 before kicking off a three-game California trip in Anaheim on January 7.
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